The Lex Lab conducts research investigating how early language experience affects vocabulary acquisition and processing in American Sign Language. One of the primary projects is ASL-LEX, a database funded by NSF that documents the structure of the American Sign Language lexicon. The second line of research is the an investigation of how early experience with ASL shapes language acquisition and development. As part of this work, the lab released the ASL-CDI, an ASL adaptation of the MacArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventory, that assesses ASL vocabulary in children younger than five. The lab asks questions like:

What are the signs of ASL and their properties?

How do people perceive, produce, and acquire signs?
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How do early language experiences affect language acquisition?